NEW DELHI: With the inauguration of the new Parliament building dividing parties into two camps, the governing coalition got a shot in the arm from Andhra CM Jagan Reddy’s YSRCP, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik’s BJD and, interestingly, the Akalis, who had broken away from the grouping over the protests against the now-scrapped farm laws.
They said the boycott was not the first instance of the opposition “insulting” Parliament for partisan reasons. “Over the past nine years, these opposition parties have repeatedly shown scant regard for parliamentary procedures, disrupted sessions, staged walkouts during crucial legislations, and demonstrated an alarming lackadaisical attitude towards their Parliamentary duties. This recent boycott is just another feather in their cap of disregard for democratic processes,” the NDA partners said.
They said the audacity of these opposition parties to preach about parliamentary decency and constitutional values is, in the light of their actions, nothing short of laughable. “Their hypocrisy knows no bounds — they boycotted the special GST session presided over by the then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee; skipped the ceremony when he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, and even extended a late courtesy call to Shri Ramnath Kovind upon his election as President,” they said.
The signatories to the NDA statement include, besides BJP chief JP Nadda, Mahrarashtra CM Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena), Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma (National People’s Party), Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang (Sikkim Krantikari Morcha), Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio (Nationalist Progressive Democratic Party), CM of Mizoram Zoramthanga (Mizo National Front), deputy CM of Haryana Dushyant Chautala (Jananayak Janata Party), junior ministers at the Centre Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal) and Ramdas Athawale (Republican Party of India), Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras ( LJP), E Palaniswami, leader of opposition Tamil Nadu (AIADMK), G K Vasan (Tamil Manila Congress) and Devanathan (IMKMK), president of All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Sudesh Mahto.
They said the boycott was not the first instance of the opposition “insulting” Parliament for partisan reasons. “Over the past nine years, these opposition parties have repeatedly shown scant regard for parliamentary procedures, disrupted sessions, staged walkouts during crucial legislations, and demonstrated an alarming lackadaisical attitude towards their Parliamentary duties. This recent boycott is just another feather in their cap of disregard for democratic processes,” the NDA partners said.
They said the audacity of these opposition parties to preach about parliamentary decency and constitutional values is, in the light of their actions, nothing short of laughable. “Their hypocrisy knows no bounds — they boycotted the special GST session presided over by the then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee; skipped the ceremony when he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, and even extended a late courtesy call to Shri Ramnath Kovind upon his election as President,” they said.
The signatories to the NDA statement include, besides BJP chief JP Nadda, Mahrarashtra CM Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena), Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma (National People’s Party), Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang (Sikkim Krantikari Morcha), Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio (Nationalist Progressive Democratic Party), CM of Mizoram Zoramthanga (Mizo National Front), deputy CM of Haryana Dushyant Chautala (Jananayak Janata Party), junior ministers at the Centre Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal) and Ramdas Athawale (Republican Party of India), Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras ( LJP), E Palaniswami, leader of opposition Tamil Nadu (AIADMK), G K Vasan (Tamil Manila Congress) and Devanathan (IMKMK), president of All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Sudesh Mahto.